The present invention relates generally to a method of making furniture, and furniture made thereby. In particular, the invention relates to a method of making furniture from polymer sheeting, and furniture made thereby.
Conventional methods of making furniture, particularly indoor/outdoor casual furniture, entail a great number of parts and an even greater number of fasteners and joints, each of which is susceptible to failure. Such conventional methods include the traditional woodworking techniques.
The furniture resulting from such conventional methods is not resistant to rot or the ultraviolet rays of the sun, and requires repeated time-consuming and expensive maintenance.
Furthermore, such conventional methods do not lend themselves to creating unlimited number of styles by using various interchangeable components.
Various attempts have been tried to remedy and/or avoid the aforementioned problems, but such attempts have been unsuccessful.
The relevant art is exemplified by the following United States patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,787 issued in 1954 to Vandas et al. entitled xe2x80x9cCHAIR OF MALLEABLE MATERIALxe2x80x9d discloses a chair made from a flat substantially rectangular blank of continuous malleable material. Such material may be plastic, metal, wood, or laminated material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,498 issued in 1970 to Werner entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONSTRUCTING FURNITURE PIECES OF PLASTICxe2x80x9d discloses a method of constructing a furniture support surface of thin-walled plastic shells which has strength and impact distributing properties by using a cellular filler material between the shells. A satisfactory plastic is disclosed as ABS plastic (Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene plastic) sold by Borg-Warner Corp. under the trade name Cycolac.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,496 issued in 1972 to Chisholm entitled xe2x80x9cCHAIR AND SEAT AND BACK UNIT THEREFORxe2x80x9d discloses a method of blow-molding a unitary chair seat and back unit and mounting it on a chair frame. The unit is molded in generally flat form, providing for storage and/or shipping with saving in space, and is then bent to angular form for mounting on the chair frame.
Other relevant art includes: Wilton U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,692; Piretti U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,704; and Yoder, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,093.
It is a desideratum of the present invention is to avoid the animadversions of the conventional devices and techniques.
The present invention, in addition to eliminating or avoiding the problems and disadvantages attendant to the conventional devices and techniques, provides a novel furniture fabricating method and furniture produced thereby possessing very new and desirable features, heretofore unattainable.
The present invention provides a method of making pieces of high-strength weather-resistant indoor/outdoor furniture, comprising the steps of: designing components for a first piece of furniture which is suitable for indoor and/or outdoor use, and which may be changed in appearance to an unlimited number of styles by merely changing solid-state components though the removal of a few screws; cutting all said components from a single sheet of polymer having a predetermined thickness; and assembling said components with screws to form said first piece of furniture.
The present invention also provides novel high-strength weather-resistant indoor/outdoor furniture, comprising: components for a first piece of furniture which is suitable for indoor or outdoor use, and which may be changed in appearance to an unlimited number of styles by merely changing solid-state components though the removal of a few screws; all said components being fabricated from a single sheet of polymer having a predetermined thickness; and said components being assembled with screws to form said first piece of furniture.
The present invention provides a novel method of making high-strength weather-resistant indoor/outdoor furniture from polymer sheets, and furniture fabricated by such method.
It is an object of the present invention to provide furniture as described above which can be placed safely outdoors without rot, mildew, or weathering.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making furniture as described above whereby the furniture is fabricated from solid state components.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method and furniture as described above wherein the method eliminates many of the nails, screws, and other fasteners required by conventional methods and furniture.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.